Evaluating the effect of DEM resolution on performance of cartographic depth-to-water maps, for planning logging operations

• Reliable soil moisture maps are needed when planning machine operating trails. High resolution LiDAR-based DEMs improve performance of DTW maps. DEM 1–2 m is sufficient for extraction forestry operation application. and accurate to minimise the risk disturbance during logging operations. Depth-to-water (DTW) extracted from digital elevation models have shown potential identifying water flow paths associated wet moist areas, based on surface topography. We examined whether airborne LiDAR data with varying point density can in Soil content was estimated eight sites after operations compared created resolutions 2 m, 1 0.5 m. Different threshold values (1 1.5 depth water) were also tested. The map performances, measured by accuracy (ACC) Matthews Correlation Coefficient (MCC), changed slightly (79%, 81% 82% 0.33, 0.26 0.30 respectively) varied corresponding value wet/dry 70%, 72%, 71% 0.38, 0.41 0.39. found be operations, knowledge about hydrological features, their connectivity beneficial.